My Little Combine: Resistance is Magic

Chapter 7 - Tainted Skies

"Don't go into the forest, children."

Walking.

Walking to a place to which brings fear into the hearts of even the bravest of ponies. Walking into the place thought to be the spawning grounds of demons themselves. The tunnel leading to the gloomy outside is dark and damp with years of ware. The cold stone walls holding secrets from before the war. You heart beat is steady, but your breaths are scattered and unfocused. Your mind racing with thoughts of what could go wrong while you're in this place. Unnerving sounds of battle continue up above; normal ponies are being slaughtered and incinerated in mere seconds, while you and your friend walk safely from below.

This whole war, this whole goddamned war. It seems pointless. Who's the one to blame? The one that surrendered  Equestria to those metal beasts: Dr. Dream. If you get your hooves on that bitch, she's going to be sorry. You shake your head a few times, trying to clear the rage-filling thoughts that cloud you from your current mission. "Okay," Little Light says, "We're here."

You and Little Light arrive at the gate, the only shield of protection from the evil place known as the Everfree Forest. It reaches near the top of the tunnel, and is locked with a simple padlock and some chain. A simple shot at point blank or a hefty whack with something should knock that right off. You look around the tunnel and spot a broken length of pipeline to your right. Hot steam shoots off in multiple directions; laying beside the pipeline is the broken piece. You pick it up with your magic and prep it for whacking. You count off in your head: Three... Two... One! You bash the padlock and it comes off with ease. You unwrap the chain with ease and open the gate.

The gate squeaks as it opens, apparently from not being opened for a long time. You and Little Light walk though the gate, getting closer to a hell-filled place. The tunnel ends. The ending is marked with vegetation that is starting to eat away at the dark stone walls of the tunnel. Thick trees tower above your head as you step out into the forest, blocking out the sun's rays of light dramatically. The tone of your surroundings sends a chill down your spine. You make sure you have a gun handy and that it is loaded

Nature makes it's frightful noises as you and Little Light walk in the Everfree Forest to find the Resistance stronghold. Birds chirp in the distance, but not helping in your overall calmness. The dark tone of the forest makes your mood go from content to complete sadness. The only happiness that seems to be in this sacred wood is your female companion, Little Light.

Walking in this place gives you bad thoughts. Zombies might be lurking at every turn. The weather is no better. Wet, humid, and hot. A perfect combination for sweat and misery. Your hooves collapse with the ground below you, crunching leaves and twigs as you walk through this forest. I guess if you get past all the bad things, it is actually kinda beautiful. It's got nice plants that give it a bright look. Violet glowing in the distance from the flowers that populate this dark and mysterious place. Yeah, not that bad. Just gotta focus on the positives.

You look around. The trees are thick in all directions, but you think you can make out a small hut in the distance. It's small, but looks like it could have been lived in. You tap Little Light on the shoulder with your forehoof and point her into the direction of the cabin. You and her both make your way to the cabin and find that it is in pretty good condition from what you can see. There some overgrowth in vegetation, but it's not destroying the actual building. You walk inside the structure. Inside is a bed, arrangement of worn books on shelves lined across the walls, some old masks, flowers, and other stuff that would be used in potion making. Stuff that you would see in a zebra's hut.

You and Little Light loiter around the hut, checking out the old prewar potion books and ingredients. This stuff is very interesting. Stuff to cure every known illness and heal every kind of wound, even a missing leg! Oh the things you could do if you had the know-how. Stuff like this fascinated you, even when you were just a small colt. Now all the memories of your past life are shrouded by lies, false hope, and hatred. The Combine. They were the ones to cause this hell. You will make them pay, one day...

You let out a heavy sigh and lay down the book you were holding in it's place. "Is something the matter?" Little Light says, catching you off guard. You turn around to see her staring at you with her deep, magenta eyes. They are almost hypnotic. You sigh a little and begin to speak.

"This whole war. I don't want to continue fighting in it. It's not helping anything, it seems. It's only taking more lives and destroying more cities than actually helping them. Dammit, it's those fucking Combine! They are the ones causing this. And that mare in charge? She's the cause of this too! The soul reason why Equestria fell so easily. We could have fought back, we could have stopped them..." You look away from the mare in front of you as you start to ramble things in your head.  Anger and fear mix together in you head; fear for your life, and the life of your friends, and anger at the ones that try to take it.

You look back up to find Little Light close to your face, bringing you into a warm and subtle kiss. Your fears and anger soon drain away, as you can now see your goal: being with her.

After your sissy little dramatic scene, you head out into the wood once more. Leaving the safety of the hut, you remember one thing: You got bigger things to do...

*****

"Are you sure we are going to right way?" you ask, unsure if you're lost or not. You and Little Light are back outside, walking in the dense and dank Everfree Forest. Crows yelp in the distance, completing the 'horror' setting.

"Yes. The stories said that it was at the heart of the forest. I'm sure we're heading the right way." replies Little Light, "Don't worry yourself." You are slightly fearful of the surroundings. Every twig snap, branch fall, and leaf crackle makes you jump a bit. Images of zombies deep in the forest still haunt you in the depths of your mind. With their split bellies, their bloody bodies, messed up coat, and the headcrab on top. The thought of anymore gore just makes your sick. You check to make sure your gun's at good reach.

Still walking in the dark wood. Your longing for some action right about now. Maybe a zombie encounter wouldn't be so bad. They are kinda stupid and we can kill them easily with our guns, right? The only thing interesting is the plants that you're finding. Pretty green flowers, glowing purple flowers, large blue ones, small red ones, all kinds of flowers. It's a herbalist's paradise in here. I bet stuff like this went for a lot of bits back before the war.

"It shouldn't take long, the base should be around here somewhere." says Little Light. You sure hope so, this humid and wet weather is making you sweat. You let out a sigh of boredom. Soon, you find that your hooves are stepping on some concrete rubble. You smile inside as you know that you're nearing the- base? Little Light lets out a gasp as she finds out her worst fears: The base is abandoned.

The field around the base is filled with odd canisters jarring out of the ground like gravestones. They scar the ground and give it a scary look. Smoke rises from small fires that still haven't went out. A few skeletons of ponies and some strange animals are laying on the ground, scattered and always remaining. You realize that this is your worst nightmare. The Combines did, in fact, shelled the place with headcrabs. But where are they? Surely there would be tons of zombies running a muck. "Ah damn," says Little Light, "Looks like the stories were true."

"What now?" you ask, almost regretting asking in the first place.

"Well, we just have to find survivors. The canisters look freshly opened, so there must be a few survivors." So you and Little Light head to the structure in the middle. Judging by Little Light's knowledge, she probably knows more about these types of buildings than you. A stench of death, decay, and burning rubble flows out from the dank building as Little Light opens the door. It's almost unbearable, making your eyes water up and your breath quicken.

A hole in the ceiling shows the night sky where a canister crashed down. Burning rubble still remains, as if trying to burn off the pain that was suffered here. Little Light strays from you, looking for a way down into the underground complex. There always seems to be an underground complex in these bases, as if it's a requirement. "Ah ha! Here we are.' Little Light says eagerly, breaking the thick silence. She starts to lift the hatch with both hooves. It creaks and groans in resistance, but eventually it comes up.

It reveals a long ladder extending down into the depths of the base. Either it's a really long drop, or there's no light down there. Either way, you flip on your shoulder light for good measure. Little Light happily goes down the ladder first, as if all fear is void from her bank of emotion. You, on the other hoof, are extremely terrified of things like this, and would rather shoot yourself then go into a dark and foreboding void where you could get violently ripped to shreds by some monstrous creature. But, it looks like you have to follow anyway. So you start to descend into Hell.

This should be fun.